Since its inception in 2013, KLAM (Latvian Canadian Archive and Museum) has been busy collecting and recording archival material donated by individuals and organizations.
The next step is to start digitizing this material. To that end, with financial help from PBLA (World Free Latvian Association), Linda Jegorova, a specialist from the National Library of Latvia in Riga, spent the month of July in Toronto helping us to set up the KLAM Database in a format to be used for digitizing which would be compatible with the system in Latvia. KLAM has purchased and installed two scanners for this purpose.
KLAM is also participating in the Baltic Canadian Imprints: Snapshot Stories project – collecting oral histories through interviews with members of the exile generation.
Song Festivals and “song” in general have been instrumental in maintaining Latvian culture and identity for centuries, which is well documented in “Power of Song” by Guntis Šmidchens.
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of Latvia in 1918, KLAM is collecting Song Festival memorabilia, with an emphasis on festivals in exile, with the aim of curating an exhibit in 2018.
Ženija Vitols